Christmas Fairytales
by mysticamethyst87
Summary: Alex used to have images in her head of magical Christmases. Of love and princes and fairytales. As the years went by, they all slowly went away. Will this Christmas restore them or jade her further? AU Marissa/Alex. Malex fluff.


As Alex walks along the street, in Newport, in the snow, she wonders what she's even doing here. Her hands are cold, her nose is red, and she can't feel her ears. Although, that raises a point, can anyone ever feel their ears?

She is about to knock on the door to the Cooper Nichol mansion. A huge party is in progress. Like earlier, she doesn't know exactly _why_ she's here, except that Marissa had begged her to rescue her from the horror of yet _another_ Newport party.

Alex had capitulated quickly, especially at the sight of Marissa's _very_ cute pout. The brunette had thrown her arms around her, joking about Alex being her knight in shining armour.

That last comment is probably why Alex stands out here in the cold freezing her ass off with a cigarette in her hand. That and desperately wanting a few more minutes of freedom before having to socialise with the Newport elite.

Unwittingly, Marissa had brought back one of the most painful memories Alex had, all the more so in its very sweetness.

Alex remembers never being able to sleep on Christmas Eve, too hyped with excitement to relax.

So her parents would tuck her into her bed, then her mother would sit on one side, letting Alex play with the end of long tumbling curls of golden hair with her hands. Her dad would sit on the other side, his hand atop of Alex's arm.

Then, they would tell Alex a story, their voices mingling in perfect harmony.

The story would be a fairytale, the basic theme being a princess and the brave Prince Charming who rode in to rescue her from danger. It would always be set in winter, but there wouldn't be too much mention of Santa or presents, as that would always get Alex over excited all over again. After the story had finished, she would always be very tired.

Her mother would kiss her on the head. Then her dad would pick her mother up, sweep her into his arms, and call her his princess.

Alex smiled sleepily at the image, every Christmas, wondering whether she too would _really_ live this fairytale. Some things just didn't fit, for instance, she would always wonder why the prince got to have all the fun, slaying the dragons. She wanted to do that.

Still, as she drifted off to sleep, Alex's mind would be filled with thoughts of presents and Christmas, and also of a fairytale future.

Alex grew up. When her parents kicked her out of the house for kissing Jodie? For not living the life they chose? It hurt Alex, deep inside.

Christmas that year was spent at Jodie's and already, Alex could sense the cracks in their relationship, though it hadn't been long since her parents found out. They had tried their best to make it a cheerful Christmas, but somehow, something just hadn't clicked.

That night Alex had stared up at the ceiling. She thought back to previous Christmases, and recalled the stories. The illusions surrounding them, which had already cracked, finally shattered. There _were_ no fairytales.

Alex had moved to Newport sometime afterwards. It was here that she met Marissa, while dating Seth. Within a month of her arrival, they had both become good friends, even being as different as they were.

After all, Alex was the badass punk and Marissa…well, if Alex had to categorise Marissa, which she didn't want to, she'd have to say that she was the closest thing to a troubled fairytale princess that Alex had seen.

Her belief in fairytales shattered, Alex had watched cynically as Marissa's knight in shining armour, _Ryan_, rode in to try and claim the girl once more, having left for Chino just months before. Everyone else had watched too, convinced it would work out, for after all, when had a princess refused to give in to the knight eventually?

Marissa had obviously still had some sort of feelings left for the sandy haired boy, for they had kissed once. Afterwards, Marissa confided in Alex that it had felt wrong. That it wasn't what she wanted anymore. Alex had simply nodded. When Ryan had left to go back to Chino, to Theresa, giving up on Marissa, Alex was the only one that wasn't too surprised.

As her cigarette finishes, the blonde retreats from her memories. Alex grinds the stub of the cigarette with the heel of her boots, sighing. Somehow, while comforting the brunette, Alex had fallen for her as well.

There are hints that Marissa feels the same way. For example, just now, as Alex knocks on the door and Marissa answers, the taller girl hugs her tight. Alex can't smell the alcohol on her breath as much as she used to be able to, though that's not all that uncommon anymore. Since Alex has been around, the other girl has cut down, although she isn't T-total by any means. Where would the fun be in that?

A few seconds later, Marissa lets go, but keeps a firm grip on Alex's hand as she leads her to the party. Alex would hope that the brunette feels the same but she doesn't believe in fairytales anymore, especially at Christmas.

A few hours have passed, and thanks in the main to Seth and Summer, who are also here, this party hasn't sucked as badly as Alex thought it would. She goes to the kitchen, where the food is, to get herself something to eat.

On the way back, she bumps into Marissa, who apparently came to look for her. Right on cue, their eyes flicker up to the mistletoe above them, and Alex nearly groans at the corniness of it all. To be fair, there's no one else around, well, no one who isn't drunk, anyway. If they wanted, they could avoid this kiss.

Corny or not though, this is something Alex wants desperately, has wanted for months.

Leaning in she captures Marissa's lips with her own and is surprised when two long arms encircle her waist, pulling her closer. Their tongues battle for dominance before they pull away, both gasping for air. When Marissa nuzzles against her neck gently, Alex feels an indescribable sense of happiness.

Finally they break apart completely and Alex looks deeply into the brunette's eyes, seeing all the emotions she is sure are shining through in her own gaze reflected back at her. Happiness, tenderness, lust and probably most deeply and most important of all, _love_.

Alex grasps two things that day. One is that she'd do anything to keep Marissa safe, and she's sure that the brunette would do the same for her. The second, most important point however, is that whatever is happening between her and the lanky brunette is perfect. More than perfect, it's just _right._

This isn't a fairytale by any means. They're both equals in this relationship, because though she stopped Marissa from drinking, Marissa stopped Alex from self destructing. Plus, obviously, there's no prince in sight, and neither of them wants or needs one.

Some people might consider it one, simply because Alex and Marissa are two people so vastly different that love should not be able to blossom as it has done in the desert of dissimilarities that separated them.

Marissa leads her away from the kitchen, back to the party, not once letting go of her hand. There are gasps of surprise, but Marissa doesn't seem to care, just leaning into the blonde. Alex could care less what most of these people think either and the grins on Seth and Summer's faces show that they approve.

As they make their way over to them, Marissa leans in towards Alex's ear, and whispers the three words the blonde has wanted to hear from her for so long. Alex stops wondering whether this could be called a fairytale. That doesn't matter, she realises, because even if this isn't one, she's found her happily ever after.

In the end, that's all that really matters.

**THE END**

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A.N- This is actually not a new fic, it's about two/three years old, and has been posted elsewhere before, in case it counds familiar to anyone. (doubtful ;)) Anyway, what with Christmas coming up, thought I might as well go ahead and post it here :). Hopefully (I say this a lot so it probably won't happen), I'll be able to start writing again after three years of nothing :D. Thanks for reading, if you have time, please review.


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